High Mileage

[theevilstickboy]

Hey, whats up everyone. My 1989 Civic Dx has high mileage-187,456 to

be exact. Do ya think driving easy would be a good ideas. And what

could I do to make it run strong and long??? Also my older sister had it

before me and she was a really crazy driver that hardly ever took good

care of it.
p.s. I don't have very much money


THANKS

[mellowboy]

Well as long as there no oil leaks, do a major tune up, check the compression. If everything is healthy then its all good. You have nothing to worry about. Just keep it well maintained. Maybe in the future you can swap in another motor. I'd suggest the sohc vtec or if you can't come up with that kind of money...then d16a6 would be dOpe!

[turtlecrxsi]

It depends on the actual shape of the car. My car has almost that many miles but I have replaced the engine and transmission over time (but I always drive it like I stole it). A couple things to look at...
Look at the engine... any leaks? where are they coming from? basic tune up is a good idea (ie. spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor... not too much $), change the oil (I use Castrol 10w-40), make sure all the grounds are nice and tight, check the belt for wear/cracks/etc., clean/replace the air filter element, exhaust rusty? replace it (cheapest is custom job from muffler shop... 2"), check codes if any from ECU.
Jack up car and get under it... inspect the transaxle... does it leak?, check out the axle boots/cv joints... any cracks/wear?, inspect the upper and lower ball joints bushings... any cracks/wear?
Also, look for rust... rust kills our cars.

[theevilstickboy]

yeah it has a brand new oil 10w 40, new air filter, new brake fluid and i clean the spark plugs good but there is a alot of rust mostly under the car. The brakes are rusted to shit and i needed a mini air;jack to loosen the wheel off.

[dagoEF]

I'll suggest fuel filter and tranny fluid change as well.

[johnb16a2]

Originally Posted by turtlecrxsi

It depends on the actual shape of the car. My car has almost that many miles but I have replaced the engine and transmission over time (but I always drive it like I stole it). A couple things to look at...
Look at the engine... any leaks? where are they coming from? basic tune up is a good idea (ie. spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor... not too much $), change the oil (I use Castrol 10w-40), make sure all the grounds are nice and tight, check the belt for wear/cracks/etc., clean/replace the air filter element, exhaust rusty? replace it (cheapest is custom job from muffler shop... 2"), check codes if any from ECU.
Jack up car and get under it... inspect the transaxle... does it leak?, check out the axle boots/cv joints... any cracks/wear?, inspect the upper and lower ball joints bushings... any cracks/wear?
Also, look for rust... rust kills our cars.

I agree with all the above, but the most important, in my opinion, is check for rust first. If the car doesn't cast a shadow anymore all the other stuff is a waste of money you can put toward another 4th gen Civic that isn't a rusty death trap. GL

[slammedcivicsi]

drive the shit outta it.....my sedan had 550,000 kms before it called it quits....and even then it only had 4 oil changes in its life....and never had a fuel filter changed....it was ragged....2 owners since new....and I knew em both.....I only swapped outta it cause I was too lazy to repair the blown head gasket.

[civic_boy91]

iv got 216608.2 miles on my car ....and i drive it like i stole it....all the time. you just have to take care of it. the only thing that didnt like the 7000 rpm was the tensioner for the ac compressor.

[doobie98]

do yall think 146,000k is bad mileage for an 1989

[doobie98]

do you think 146,000k miles are bad on an 1989 car?

[CZ-R]

I agree with all of the above, and would stress the compression test/tune up. That will give you the true condition of the motor. Mine had twice your mileage before I pulled it. And even with bad rings on two cylinders I was still going strong.

If it's a daily driver that you don't plan to mod or beat on, you should be fine with normal maintenance. If the motor is tired, be easy on it while you save for an inexpensive swap...

[CRXperiment]

Originally Posted by doobie98

do you think 146,000k miles are bad on an 1989 car?

No that kinda mileage isnt bad. Are you saying too low or too high? Cause for an 89 146k is either just right or on the low side.

[allstar323]

Drive it like you stole it..jk but my dad's 89 civic lx with 265,000 (just reached it last night) is still running strong. A whole mess of creaks and groans though. I occasionally drive it to 5k rpm like once in a month for fun. 185k is not that high compared to mine. I'm hoping to get to 300k without changing the timing belt...which needs to be changed.

edit: I read the part where your sister was crazy with it. Well we took care of this car (up to a point.)

If you want it to run, just do the required maintenence..timing belt, water pump, etc. But then there comes a point where its just not worth it anymore, like my car.

My car needs timing belt, water pump, oil pan gasket, heck, a full rebuild would be great.. It burns oil so use a higher viscosity oil to reduce burning...but see all that money is more than the car is worth. I'd use it on my 93 teg.